Mostly I Walk

Slowly, but surely, we are chipping away at the things we need to live here, not merely stay here. Every day something new is needed, so I've found myself walking all over the city, well at least the downtown area which is absolutely filled with water fountains, outside office towers, and in seemingly every park, of which there are many that I pass by during my errands, beginning with the park adjacent to the condo.

Those folks that let their dog off leash also love to let them play around in this fountain!

I'll be the first to admit that I underestimated this whole move to Vancouver thing. Matt urged me to bring some things that meant something to us, however, buying the condo and selling the house took so much of our time and energy that I did not fully prepare for this move. Although I brought my favorite potato peeler with me, I did not think to bring my beloved can opener, thus it took me three trips to Winners before I finally found an OXO.

The kitchen here has one, but I'll be darned if I can work it properly. The condo is pretty, but it really needs some decorative items. I found the copper pitcher in the pantry, as well as the vase that I put to use with an orchid bloom I bought at Urban Faire, the nearby upscale grocery.

What would I do without Google? After asking multiple folks about a groomer with no success, I turned to my friend Google to find one within walking distance. It pained me to take him to a place that advertises "hip canine," but they did do a good job, so there's that.

Have I mentioned how much I love seeing the mountains at the end of streets? Because our first two weeks were marred by the lingering smoke, I had no idea they were so visible! I nearly missed Baxter's appointment because I'd got it into my head to use up the rest of my blueberries in a sour cream coffee cake, now that I have cinnamon thanks to this amazing care package Bonnie sent!!! Can you believe this??

Not so fast Gail! Although I'd walked to buy the brown sugar for a streusel topping, I'd completely overlooked the fact that I don't have any type of mixer to cream butter and sugar! Cue the grater (a find from Marshalls), and frozen butter. I mashed it all with my rubber spatula and a wooden spoon, taking way too much time. Looking at my watch, I realized it was almost his appointment time, and of course we were walking. I snatched him up, carrying him the five or so blocks to the place, making it just in time. Doesn't he look adorable, although she did miss a bit on his left floppy ear.

Amazingly, the coffee cake turned out nicely.

Even more amazing is that Baxter WALKED the whole way home. Count me completely shocked over that!

Later,  Bruce brought his boss Steve home, and we walked to go out to dinner. I may not be riding a bicycle these days, but my legs are sure getting a workout!  Let me show you a few water features I've come across. This one is in a park on Seymour Street.

A nearby courtyard...note the huge hydrangeas.

On Georgia Street adjacent to BC Hydro.

This is on the corner of Richards and Georgia..

What is not pictured above is a large area in front of this with colorful tables filled at the noon hour with Vancouverites enjoying the sun. I was on my way to Costco, unsuccessfully again! I might add. As I mentioned in my last post, they only take Mastercard, unlike in the States where they only take Visa. The fellow told me to get cash for the membership, then apply for their Mastercard. Got the cash, walked all the way back yesterday, only to be told I needed my passport! To tell you the truth, I was just plain tired yesterday, so I went back to the condo and stayed put for an afternoon. Good thing the movie making was still in full force to keep me entertained. All manner of folks have been lining up to see what they can see, as did I, however, the view from the balcony was pretty great. It began with a single truck..

and turned into what one woman I talked to described as an army of ants scurrying around doing their work. Speaking of women...

It must have been Wednesday morning when I went to mail a note in the post box adjacent to the site. I got to talking with one of the production assistants, basically young people who stand around with safety vests on, and who should get out of his car about twenty feet from me? Yup, the star, Ryan Reynolds. Sometimes it pays to be chatty. :)

Here he is later on, atop the huge vehicle they made in their production shop.

I've seen the term camera operator and now I know firsthand what it means. Take a closer look at one of the cameras.

Most of the folks were trying to take photos with their phones, however, it pays to have a real camera with a zoom lens if you really want to see what is happening. Here is Mr. Reynolds with his stunt man in front of him. A young Russian woman I met is a huge fan, asking me if I would send her some of my photos. I was happy to oblige.

Oh look, here he is again!

And yet again..

Note the masked double on the right.

From above the crew has their afternoon snack. The female lead is at the top of the shot, you will recognize her because she is the only one wearing a skin tight black outfit with gloves. The stunt man is walking in the middle wearing the black robe and a backwards ball cap. I guess I will have to wait to see the movie to find out who the fellow is that is a foot taller than everyone else.

As I type, they are tearing it all down. It took six full days to set it up, wonder how long it will take to remove everything? It will definitely make it easier for Bruce to get into the parking garage that's for sure!

On my first trip to Costco I came across the Andy Livingston Park near Chinatown where there is not one,

but two water foutains!

It may take me all year to discover the full list published here, but I think I will give it a go as I walk all over the city.

Although our pharmacist in Orlando said we could take our prescription to a pharmacy in Canada, we've learned it does not work quite that way. We learned we have to go into a walk in clinic (!) and have a Canadian doctor write the prescription which Bruce accomplished on Monday. Today is my turn at the Yaletown Medical Clinic. Seems weird to us, but we are learning you have to play by the rules to get things done.

Speaking of the post, it takes nearly two weeks for mail to travel to and from the US, should you be wondering. That will take some getting used to.

Time to put on my walking shoes...

yours truly,

Gail

p.s. I'd never even heard of Ryan Reynolds, not to mention Deadpool, but we watched it the other night and it is darn good, even for someone who HATES superhero movies.

Let the Painting Begin!

As is so often the case for all of us, the days fly by with all manner of activities. So often people exclaim that they are busier once they retired then when they were working, and perhaps there is some truth to that. I'm not entirely convinced, in part because our memories are faulty. In any case, most of us have plenty to do, so I very much appreciate you taking the time to keep up with Camera Crazy! 

Before we delve into painting, I did finish the quilt after seemingly forever. The inspiration fabric for the quilt is this wild print that I saw at Hobby Lobby, who knows when. Maybe before we came to North Carolina last summer? At any rate, I found the fabric, then chose about twelve others using the same color way, a term I learned from our friend Irene, who now lives in our condo community but is selling her place to move further afield. Now that I think of it, she will feature again a little further down this post. Anyway, here it is with the binding strips I made atop it.

As you may recall from this long term saga, I bought the blue in a whole bunch of pieces from the nearby craft sale at the fundraising for the library. Come to think of it, fundraising will be mentioned again too as it is a constant in this part of the country. This is Appalachia after all.  In the photo above I am trying to remember how to join the two ends of the binding to make a mitre. But first I had to sew all 375 inches onto the quilt. Please note the presence of curtains that my darling husband hung! 

Once I remembered how to join the ends, I sat down with a needle and thread and spent probably eight hours, or something like that, sewing on the binding. Good thing I had sports to watch while doing so!

The finale is a trip to the washing machine, followed by the dryer and there you have it.

In spite of washing in cold water, the quilt is still a tiny bit smaller than I hoped for. Well, that is homemade for you! No complaints here.

Honestly thinking of complaining, the only thing recently that has not brought out the best in me was a trip to the movie theater.

Oh my word was the movie terrible! While we lived in Vancouver, this happened twenty floors below. Even if you are no fan of Deadpool, most folks are interested in movie star sightings and mine was a good one! Vancouver is a hot bed for film production and since Ryan Reynolds is from there, the site is a natural for him. While I tolerated the previous two movies, this one was really hard for me to sit through. The good news is the cost of attending is merely $5.50 for the evening show, so there's that. 

Shall I jump into painting now? I think so, but not before I show off the beautiful cake stand that Pam brought as a housewarming gift when they visited a month or so ago.

The stand is beautiful and the cake was delicious so a match made in heaven. What I want you to note is the wall color. Okay, that is what I am now calling a faded yellow color. Now there is not a thing wrong with the color, but since we like a little more of a jazzy look (see quilt above), after much, much deliberation, we chose an historic Arts and Crafts color by Sherwin Williams called Hubbard Squash. We did, however, have it made at our local paint store on Tennessee Street owned by the Hughes. Lovely folks, and part of our mission to buy local when possible. 

In the past I would choose a paint color by a name that I liked, think Dancing Green for example, or just because I felt like changing things up. This time around, none of that was in the cards as we did not want to make a mistake, if at all possible. The walls are heavily textured plaster that required a thick napped roller. The room feels so elegant now. Oh my goodness, it is something else. As mentioned earlier, Irene was to come into play again and it is because she has used a similar color in all of her living spaces wherever they may be. 

While not well portrayed in this photo, on the right is a new art piece I bought at, you guessed it, Downtown Marketplace!  I cannot tell for sure, but it seems as if it is painted on silk and depicts deer! I will await the arrival of Matthew and Tom who are far more well schooled in art than I! And here is a daytime look.

The living room will soon be Ruskin Room Green, another in the Arts and Crafts line. I will admit to being a wee bit nervous in advance. but we are thinking it will give the room more depth and a richer look. Not as in money richer, but in a deeper feeling. Does that make sense? We shall see.

Speaking of a rich, deep look, rarely do we have much of sunset, or at least that is visible here. Last night, on the other hand, I could see by the reflection on the porch wind chimes,

that the sky would be putting on a show and what a show it was. I walked around the block, seeing the reflection on the courthouse through the trees.

Seriously intense! Plus, what I am thinking were Chimney Swifts were flying around like mad.

Now, let us have a little look around the yard, including this!!!

I was so pleased to have gotten a nice hummingbird shot. The Rose of Sharon is putting on a new show, but at the same time leaves are yellowing and dropping like mad. Plus many of the buds remain closed before falling to the ground below. I have no idea what is happening! Except one thing I know for sure is that the pesky squirrels are partly to blame for the fallen blooms.

Two things on the Cardinal front. One, I was pretty sure we had some juveniles in the mix here, and today through the living room window, I watched Papa feed one of them in the Lilac tree. Lately we have added a suet cake to our bird feeding repertoire and it came in handy for Papa Cardinal! So that bird looked super, but this one not so much. Molting has begun for this fellow.

Because we have finally had some rain, the fallen sunflower seeds are sprouting, but for that problem we have rabbits!

What is interesting about them is that they seem to not fear us, at least from the porch anyway. The birds will skedaddle the minute we even come near the edge of the porch. One day I will get a nice shot of the puffy little cotton tail!

Speaking of rain, we have had more of it and one day I took advantage of it by placing my plants on the walkway to receive the gift of rain.

It has done wonders for the grass! Here comes another look at the Japanese Maple tree, in part because I think it is interesting, and in part because I want to document the changes as the months pass. What in the heck will happen when Autumn arrives?

I am pretty sure I see the remnants of the nest as well. 

I have no idea what these plants in Sandy's yard are called but they sure look pretty don't they? 

Shifting gears, wildly I might add, this came in the mail the other day, forwarded from Orlando.

One might have thought that surely someone in her campaign would have caught that blatant error. Oh politics, how I hate thee!

Here's something! Dottie, one of the friends from church, upon learning of my interest in the history of Murphy, having lived here for forty years, was eager to share a few things she has saved over the years, mostly articles from the Cherokee Scout. Imagine my surprise while perusing some of them, discovering that in 1984 the Olympic torch came to town! According to the newspaper account, there was plenty of excitement in these parts.

Mr. Peck is pleased as punch with his new vacuum system he's created for his tools. It's a first for him and most welcome.

This is a super busy time at the church with all manner of activities happening, mostly charitable as in participating in this program. 

It is my understanding that 80% of the areas schoolchildren qualify for a free lunch and because this is so, next year all children will be given free lunches. I imagine it is less awkward? Anyway, food was collected and on this day, bagged up for distribution.

Sarah June is carry a box filled with jars of peanut butter that she obtained from her other volunteer work at a food bank. 62 bags were loaded with goodies.

And now it is time for what they call the White Tag sale. What I am calling it, is awesome! Last year I bought an terrific iron at the sale, actually your favorite blogger's husband found it, and it has been a godsend. Yesterday I helped put things out, shopping at the same time. I came home with a blender for $2, stainless mixing bowls, a big rug, and more for $20. It is crazy to me how inexpensive they price everything, but at the same time I am not complaining. Friday and Saturday I will be one of the ones checking folks out, so I will see plenty of treasures leave all the while raising money for various projects of the women's group. 

Walking there this morning I helped with pricing, which consists of tape denoting the asking price. $.25-$2.00 for most anything! In that vein, I came home with more today including a container that had all these little figurines in it. Having not the foggiest notion of what they might be, I thought they were kind of cute, so for $.50, I thought, why not? I also picked up an owl thing, so there's that too. Anyway, I was pretty sure it seemed as if they were from England and by golly, after Dottie drove me home because I was laden with plenty, I looked them up and this is what I found. Here is what they look like as a group:

and here is what they look like in a close-up.

I do have to wonder if Tom, or his mum, Jane, have seen them before as they are from England.  Honestly they are as cute as a button in person. Or so I think they are. So does this woman.  Bruce asked me what the heck was I going to do with them and folks, you are looking at it! Because that bench is slightly unstable, we don't want anyone to sit on it so now they will know it is out of commission except as a perch for my little collection of "Wade Whimsies", courtesy of some kind soul!

Bruce is sitting behind me at his desk as I type. It is gorgeous outside and soon we will be heading to the shops and library. He's working on what he terms, a "takeoff", a construction term for a list of supplies and costs for an upcoming ramp project. You might remember Tom and Jane whom we visited, she of the beaded figurines. 

The report from Orlando on the baby front is all good news. Baby boy Peck is coming along nicely. Fallon is feeling much better and Bill is filled with excitement. In the meantime, we will keep on improving our beautiful home that came to us as such a blessing. Before moving in, I wondered how I would like the kitchen as it is such an important part of my life. Our lives really!

Turns out, I like it just fine. And no plans are imminent to change the stove because, by golly, it works like  a champ! As to having very little counter space, well that just adds to the excitement. Or so it seems to me.

your friend,

Gail

At This Time of Year

At this time of year, there is a whole lot to love about Vancouver. Now that the smoke has cleared, seeing both the sea and mountains in one place is simply amazing. Not to mention that the temperature is comfortable, the city is easy to navigate, and the people friendly. Once you get over sticker shock, you've got it made.

Having a dog is like a conversation magnet, people have stories to tell and are eager to share them, whether the story is about their dog, how much they love Vancouver, where they are from and what they do for a living. I've met scads of folks so far, and I even remember some of their names, however, I can't remember the names of this darling old couple I met on maybe our second day in the condo. They were out for an amble and were happy to welcome me to Vancouver during our conversation. Amazingly enough, Sunday, while Bruce and I were recreating the walk I'd taken on Saturday, we ran into them and they remembered me, asking how we were getting settled in? We also learned he is still working at age 86 as an insurance man for mining companies!!

If it seems as if I am blogging a lot and there's a reason for that. In these early days, I want to record all of my enthusiasm before the gloom of winter settles in, and it probably won't be so much to my liking. Then again, perhaps I will get used to it? Every day I walk somewhere new. Saturday morning, after dropping Bruce's shirts off at our new dry cleaning place, I walked along the seawall in Yaletown. Skirting the David Lim park, you get a great view of some of the residential towers.

None of which are the one where we live. Ours looks like this from the seawall...

It is the one of the very left side of the photograph. Actually, I am standing in the park where later in the day, on our way to walk to dinner, I asked B to take my photograph amongst the flowers.

Awkward hands and feet, but those flowers are really something, aren't they? During that same walk I took Bruce along the same route I'd taken in the morning, and we saw these funny little bubble things that kids, apparently get into and bop around.

Previously I mentioned how parents seem much more casual, well, actually, more like the parenting I did, and seeing this little girl reminded me of that. I've yet to try the ice cream at Mister, but it sure looks as if it is popular.

Walking to and fro for dinner is pretty darn great, at this time of the year.

Saturday afternoon, I made it as far as English Bay Beach, where there is yet another remnant of Expo 86.

Here is the explanation...

What is super cool is the copies, albeit small, scattered atop the rocky shoreline, which I'll show another day. The trees pictured on the left in the previous photograph are the beginnings of Stanley Park where I hope to go one day soon. You see people from everywhere while walking the seawall.

Woo hoo...we walked to the West End Sunday morning seeing this community garden along the way.

Our mission was to visit a church that I'd walked past earlier in the week. In a cray coincidence, Bruce, while searching online, found it as well, not knowing I knew where it was. I see so much in a day, it's hard to tell him everything!

Boy did it feel good after missing a worship service for so many weeks.  It is hard to believe that in two days it will be one month since we left Orlando, isn't it?

So, are you curious about the movie making? Especially if you read/heard about the death yesterday. More on that part in a moment. The set up is incredible...there were cranes, trucks, all manner of heavy equipment to put everything into place.

I have taken so many photographs, as has everyone that walks by this crazy scene, however, yesterday, when filming began, they kept asking folks not to. It looks pretty mild in the photo above doesn't it? Well, here's another part of the set up,

What look like concrete slabs are made of styrofoam, or did I tell you that already?

This gives you a little context. They kept adding more and more stuff, leading up to the shoot day, which began quite early yesterday morning. I told Bruce, an army had descended on the site.

From above...

I talked to one of the directors before I left for errands, and he said there were 200 people on the set, along with more trucks full of equipment.

He also told me that they use mineral oil in pots, lighting it to make the smoky atmosphere.

Now you understand what was on the ground a few photos above. That same director said that on Tuesday, they would be filming the stunt woman, swinging, from what looks like the bridge, but is really done by a crane, into the panda bear which will then deflate. Supposed to be funny. I couldn't help but think about that when the events from across town became known. I suspect this is Ryan Reynolds stunt double, chilling out when the cameras are not rolling. (taken from the balcony)

On the left side of the photograph is that frame thing we saw them put together. Another tid bit I learned is it is used to block the sun. Everything looks crazy realistic, doesn't it?

With filming underway, I walked to Costco, only to learn that their only card of choice is Mastercard. Bummer! Not far from Bruce's office, I called him and we met for lunch at Taco Time in the International Mall. More scenes from Chinatown in another post. Walking back, I stopped to see the public portion of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park, as I'd heard it was lovely, and it is true, very lovely, however, maybe the best part of that stroll was coming across this group of woman singing in what I presume was Chinese.

As you can well imagine, I took many photographs at the garden; perhaps this one sums it up?

Towers, towers, and more towers! Yet, it is still peaceful in Vancouver. Not sure how they do it, but then again, I don't really need to know, do I? Just enjoy while the weather is good, this time of year.

Walking home along Beatty Street, I could hear BC Place before I could see it....Metallica was rehearsing in the stadium for the show later in the evening.

While walking home Nancy called from Atlanta, having just heard that a stunt woman, on the set of Deadpool 2 was killed in a motorcycle crash. She wondered if it was the same set as "ours." Thinking there was no room for a motorcycle, I told her I'd let her know when I got to the condo. No, it wasn't our set, but our set was completely shut down for the day with only a security guard on the sidewalk, saying he did not know when they would be back. The elevator sign tells me it will be tomorrow. So tragic. :(

As many of you have been to Vancouver either for a trip or a layover before or after an Alaskan cruise, you will probably recognize the site where the accident occurred.

Our first sunset!

The streets beckon...

yours truly,

Gail